Today’s environment demands that companies in Citrus Heights, California have reliable Internet service in order to run their company. All companies, from Fortune 500 to small businesses, have functions that rely on easy, dependable and quick Internet access.

We’ll become increasingly dependent on access to The net as the months and years progress.

From email to data sharing, video chat to VoIP, and data archiving to Internet commerce, the web is ubiquitous. What is the best solution for you? Is a cable modem sufficient? Is Metro Ethernet necessary? Gigabit Internet may satisfy your needs. Does your Citrus Heights company need a 5 Meg Internet circuit, 10 Meg access to The net, a 50 Meg circuit, or a 100 Meg Internet access point?

Access to the net: Determining Your Business’s Needs

Before selecting the appropriate service, your organization must assess its needs. Will web surfing and email be your primary use of the internet? Is it used for real-time data connection with cloud servers? There may be remote locations that rely on you and you are hosting the data in Citrus Heights.

What if your high-speed Internet is disrupted by an outage? What will happen to your business? Can your company afford the downtime? How much uptime is essential to your business? You must answer questions like these so you can make a purchase that actually meets your needs

It is no secret that all companies need high-speed access to the net. Choosing the correct broadband for your organization requires a cost benefit analysis. You will hear service providers use terms like:

High-speed Internet access

Business Internet or commercial Internet

What about broadband cable modems?

Metro Ethernet service

GbE or Gigabit Ethernet

MPLS network

Point-to-point circuit protocol

5-megabyte access circuits

Ten megabyte access to The net provided

Internet access-50 Meg

One hundred megabytes- fast access to The web circuits

Leading SIP trunk authority

Direct or dedicated Internet access

… and so many more

… focus on what matters: what does your business need and what are the best services and solutions out there to meet those needs?

Business Access: Surfing the net at Work

For many, if not all, companies in Citrus Heights, Internet access is needed for at least some employees. There are countless reasons to need access to the web. Perhaps it is to order materials, to conduct business research or speak with clients.

The solution you choose may be based on the number of employees you have or expect to have. A smaller Internet circuit may be enough if you only have a handful of workers. Perhaps a 5 or 10 megabyte is all you need. If you have 50 employees who are using the web simultaneously, you may need more.

Your workforce may simply use an intranet system with limited video and graphics. If this is true, your need for high speed Internet be less than you thought. On the other hand, when they are frequently downloading documents, images and videos, that need for speed increases drastically.

Do you perform backups at your company? When you do remote backups from every workstation, which you should, you must support multiple and simultaneous connections to the web in order to sync your backup data.

Are you using a service such as DropBox or Google drive to share files? After a file is saved, it goes to the cloud and then to someone else’s computer. Enough bandwidth is required to support this function along with every other service.

You may consider high-speed company access to The Internet if you location warrants it. Gigabit Internet and Metro Ethernet may be viable options for you. Usually, you can find these in “lit buildings” in Citrus Heights, California that have been previously wired by a carrier. The ease and affordability of adding high-speed Internet to your office may surprise you.

Unless you are bringing Metro Ethernet into a new building, it does not have to be an expensive proposition to connect it to a suite within a building. Metro Ethernet or gigabit Internet may provide you with high-speed Internet access in thirty days or less, depending on availability.

Web Applications: They Require High-Speed Internet Access

Does your company host its own servers? Does your company use the hosted servers to run data feeds, APIs or websites for offices or businesses located elsewhere? Maybe your company requires that dozens of satellite offices have access to a hosted application at your company main headquarters. Are you hosting the point of sale (POS) system for 15, 000 retail chain stores? Are you a law firm hosting data for multiple office sites?

Access to data and programs by people outside of your main location becomes necessary when you host information centrally. If your Internet connection goes down, those people are unable to work. Are you picking an intranet solution that provides reliability and stability for your multiple, simultaneous connections from various sites?

The needs of an office with one employee web surfing may not need more than a cable modem or an inexpensive 5-10 megabyte circuit. For headquarters, Metro Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet or other high-speed Internet dedicated circuits is advisable. While all offer high speeds, they also need to be capable of supporting multiple diverse connections. A cable modem would likely be insufficient.

Which is Better for You in Citrus Heights, California? Dedicated Internet Bandwidth or Shared Cable Circuits?

Bringing in a less-expensive circuit like a cable modem often comes with a price. You may have to share bandwidth in order to secure that low monthly rate. If you subscribe to a cable modem with a 30-megabyte connection, you would expect to always be able to reach that high speed. However, it is possible that during peak hours, you won’t. Many cable operators can only deliver a certain amount of bandwidth in a community. That amount of bandwidth must be shared with different buildings and with the tenants housed within. With a 30-megabyte connection, you may not get to that speed during the working day. Is getting 7 when you expect 30 a problem?

Some carriers are available who offer dedicated bandwidth and guaranteed bandwidth. If you want your very own bandwidth that is not used by anyone else, you should consider this. No matter who is in the building or what buildings surround you, you should always run at full speed.

With Metro Ethernet, for example, you can receive a guaranteed bandwidth in various increments including 5 and 10 Meg circuits, and 50 and 100 Meg circuits. Want to reach gigabit speeds? You can by using a gigabit Internet provider.

Providers in these situations deliver enough to cover everyone’s needs. The providers divide their circuit to various tenants while guaranteeing that everyone gets their contracted speed.

Backup With Citrus Heights, California High Speed Company Internet Circuits

While certain carriers offer superior Internet bandwidth products in Citrus Heights, the reality is that it is possible for a circuit to go down. The question then becomes, “how do I minimize my chance of an outage? ”

Circuits that are redundant may be a good idea.

Redundancy in this situation comes in two forms.

With the first type of redundancy, you receive multiple circuits from the same carrier. If there is a problem with a line or a port in your router, circuit redundancy can offer some protection. If your carrier experiences a regional outage or you have a line broken outside of your building, you may lose the use of all of your circuits. This is not foolproof, but does offer some protection.

The second way to set up circuit redundancy is by using two different providers to bring in your circuits. You may want your circuits to appear and act as if they are one and come from the same source. If so you can use IP address allocations and advanced routers to do so. But, you know that they are actually separate and redundant. This is called diversity redundancy and offers more protection that the first. If one carrier has a widespread issue, you have a carrier that will still be alive.

You should look for redundant circuits from providers in Citrus Heights, California that do not have the same physical geographic pathways, in order to get the most redundancy. This means that you should try to have the circuits come into you building from different sides. The circuits would attached to the proper outside source whether a subterranean conduit or a telephone pole. They would be set up in different directions and would lead to different data centers or main office spaces. This way, if there is a major catastrophe, such as a fire at a data center or a major accident impacting circuits within a region, you have redundancy in a different physical direction.

What is the Cost of Not Having Adequate Protection for Your Organization Class High-Speed access to The Internet?

The cost to your company if you do not have reliable access to The Internet will be far greater than you may realize. Think about the following situations:

You use VoIP for your company telephone service

Is your company on a cable modem? How many other tenants is your carrier servicing in your building? Are 14 other offices getting circuits? During the course of a regular work day, any or all of these other businesses might be performing massive file downloads. Tenants might be taking a large volume of calls or be regularly streaming video. How will less available bandwidth affect your telephone calls? How will it affect the quality of that telephone call? Maybe calls will randomly drop? Will you sound muffled?

Your company is the central data point for multiple locations

Your office is the center of your company. You may be a law firm that does file sharing or a retailer operating a POS system. Your primary Internet connection is solely responsible for smoothly granting access and sending data to all of your places whether you have two or two thousand. What happens if your circuit goes down? Would it cause mere annoyance or utter disaster? Is work even possible at your other places? What about new orders? Share essential information with anyone? Be sure you understand your requirements fully before choosing a solution. Perhaps you are a software company, running a hosted solution used by hundreds of customers. Is an API utilized in your business so that your customers can access and talk to your system? What if these other systems have difficulty connecting your servers? Customers do not enjoy repeated outages. How long with they put up with them before looking to take their company elsewhere?

You are call center reliant on VoIP

Does your organization completely rely on the net? Your employees or representatives will not be able to make outgoing phone calls if your circuits go down. Your reps have no way of answering calls, if they even know they are coming in. You are now, essentially, out of organization. Is redundancy enough? Can you truly rely on your providers? Are they as dependable as they claim? Do you consistently get quality service that provides clear and reliable calls?

Picking the Right High-Speed Business Access Circuits for Your Citrus Heights Company

You have no shortage of options. Your business needs and your budget will have to come into consideration when deciding on your solutions. To recap:

Internet Access and the Small Business

If you have one location or office and do not feel the need to consider redundancy for your system, a smaller Internet access circuit may be all you need. A single fifty, ten or five megabyte circuit might be enough. For an office in a lit building, you may find that gigabit service or Metro Ethernet are affordable options for you. Because prices can vary based on the location of your business and the availability of circuits, speak with our engineers to learn your options.

Single Location Mid-Sized Business and Internet Access

Mid sized companies with a single office in Citrus Heights, California, need higher speed access to The web. Your options are Metro Ethernet, gigabit Internet and higher speed circuits. In a perfect scenario, multiple circuits from different providers will give you the most redundancy. It is sometimes possible to reach this without adding ridiculous costs. For example, one 100-megabyte circuit may cost more than two smaller 50-megabyte circuits. Availability and costs vary. Call one of our experts to learn what is available in your specific area.

Mid-Sized Company with More than One Location: Access to the Internet

If your organization has several sites or offices, you are at great risk for failure. Redundancy is crucial. Different carriers are desirable. Additionally, you should consider redundant equipment (routers and switches) in your facility to minimize the risk of downtime. As always, take a careful look and choose the right Ethernet access services, Metro Ethernet providers, gigabit Internet providers and other high-speed Internet access circuit providers. The best mix of carriers and services can maximize the productivity and efficiency of your company.

Bigger corporations, enterprise companies and providers of services that are delivered using Internet

For businesses that fit this description, it is essential to have gigabit Internet circuits, point-to-point high-speed Internet circuits and Metro Ethernet Internet circuits. In order to maximize and protect your uptime, you must have redundancy. You should have redundant circuits from multiple carriers in addition to redundant hardware. The last thing you want is interruptions or slowdowns affecting your business. You must provide enough bandwidth to avoid these pitfalls that sometimes occur during sudden usage spikes. Your circuits and hardware must be able to support a large number of fast and simultaneous connections.

You May Receive an Internet Need and Internet Demand Analysis for Free

The risk of insufficient bandwidth or failing circuits is tremendous. The right circuits must meet your demand while keeping you within your budget. Selecting the appropriate mix of circuits and hardware can overwhelm you.

Our engineers will take the pressure off and develop a free action plan for you by analyzing your needs. We’ll formulate a design or plan based partly on your current usage and demand levels. We are going to create something cost effective that gives you the resources your company needs, while keeping it running smoothly.

Please call our office for an assessment appointment or click here to complete the contact form on the right side of the page. Assessments are completed in as little as 48 hours.